Deconversion: Letting go of one's religious belief and accepting reality on its own terms.

[Nathan_Jr]

What was the greatest injustice of all that Jesus amazingly overcame?

[Charity]

5 hours ago, modcat5 said:

The point Charity tried to illustrate was that it's ___ to say God spared someone in a certain situation when someone else in the same situation was not spared. Unfortunately she chose an example steeped in politics. And that opened the door to Oldiesman responding with an implication that God's favor is on a particular politician.

And THAT opens the door to a conversation about whether God intervened in Butler and, if he did, whether He did so because of politics.

That got shut down.

 

Here's the timeline.  Nathan had written on July 14th about the former president being shot in the context of how people's "beleefs" cause division and destruction.  You then wrote a post on July 19th where you mentioned candidate X and the fallen firefighter in the context of who God spared and who he didn't.  My post about “you know who” being shot in Baker, PA. was written on July 20th in the context of some calling the incident a miracle.   That post was not deleted and I wrote yesterday that I appreciated this.

It wasn’t until 4 months later in November that Oldiesman replied to my July 20th post.  Both his post and my reply were deleted for the reason you gave above.  I think my reply to Rocky’s post of Nov 10th was also deleted. 

2 hours ago, modcat5 said:

Ok, i'm done arguing.

Do not post politics.

Do not post in response to a post about politics.

If i need to err on the side of scorched earth to be consistent I will do so.

I would much rather try to apply some reason, but if that's going to result in accusations of needing to get over myself, screw it. 

Thanks 

Got it (hot chocolate with whipped cream for me)

[Nathan_Jr]

Invoking names of political charlatans to illustrate a higher point, or even referring to events as short hand for political charlatans as a way to make a non-political point, can only grease the slide. Slippery slopes are lubed by the best intentions.

Let it go. It's done.

 

 

[oldiesman]

19 hours ago, Charity said:

I get where you are coming from because I was there too - for over 5 decades.  What "greatest injustice" are you referring to?

 

The Crucifixion

[Charity]

4 hours ago, oldiesman said:

The Crucifixion

Thank you for your reply.  I guess from the standpoint of the Pontius Pilate's story, it was an injustice.  From the standpoint of the redemption story, it was God's righteous plan was it not?

Edited Friday at 03:56 PM by Charity

[modcat5]

Please do not refer to anyone in the public eye as a "political charlatan."

Doing so validates the expression of an opposing view, which opens a political discussion.

Surely we can discuss the question of whether God is arbitrary in who he spares or doesn't spare without having to resort to expressions of political preference.

 

 

[Charity]

8 hours ago, Nathan_Jr said:

Invoking names of political charlatans to illustrate a higher point, or even referring to events as short hand for political charlatans as a way to make a non-political point, can only grease the slide. Slippery slopes are lubed by the best intentions.

Let it go. It's done.

 

 

Looking back on the whole thing, I agree.  I just provided the whole timeline in reference to the timeline modcat5 provided.   I have no animosity towards his email or his decision to delete the posts. 

[Nathan_Jr]

3 hours ago, oldiesman said:

The Crucifixion

But wasn't the crucifixion the reason why he was spared all the prior deaths by stoning?

[modcat5]

On 11/14/2024 at 6:27 AM, oldiesman said:

I get a sense that you do believe in a God that exists, otherwise why all the disagreement? 

You're JUST catching on to that?

[oldiesman]

13 minutes ago, modcat5 said:

You're JUST catching on to that?

Yes.   

[modcat5]

Ok, then.

Now you know.

[Charity]

I am now realizing I misread oldiesman's post who seems to have misread my previous post from July 15.  I mentioned non-believers in that one but not that I was one. 

On 7/15/2024 at 8:58 PM, Charity said:

I guess I was coming from the perspective that as far as Christians are concerned, their beliefs are rooted in the supernatural or spiritual realm and therefore have top authority over all human thoughts, desires, etc.  Non-believers are not just disagreeing with them but with their God. 

 

Below is oldiesman's reply to the above post.  I read it as "I get a sense that you do not believe in a God that exists."

On 11/14/2024 at 6:27 AM, oldiesman said:

I get a sense that you do believe in a God that exists, otherwise why all the disagreement? 

 

So just to be clear, I have believed in God from a child growing up in the RC church right up to the earlier part of this year.  I began this thread because of the doubts I was having about God and the bible.  I now am an atheist but still interested in discussing the biblical teachings about God and Jesus because of the influence they had on my life in the past and how they influence the beliefs and actions of people today.

 

Edited Friday at 05:33 PM by Charity

[Nathan_Jr]

6 hours ago, Nathan_Jr said:

But wasn't the crucifixion the reason why he was spared all the prior deaths by stoning?

If not spared from, spared for. Either way, it was Ya (fka El) who did the reserving. It was Ya's purpose. Ya is more just and moral beyond all understanding, right? How can the crucifixion be unjust if it was Ya's purpose? And did Jesus overcome this justified crucifixion? Or was it Yahweh who raised him?

There's probably a glove for this.

Edited Friday at 09:32 PM by Nathan_Jr

[modcat5]

Actually I also misread Oldiesman's post. My brain also put a "not" in there that was not there.

[Nathan_Jr]

When Bullinger, Lamsa (T6TMOG) and wierwille (T7TMOG) changed and twisted the text to solve an imagined problem, they created more problems by their so-called solution.

More contradictions and errors necessarily arise when claiming inerrancy than when letting Mark be Mark, Matthew be Matthew, John be John... 

[Charity]

3 hours ago, modcat5 said:

Actually I also misread Oldiesman's post. My brain also put a "not" in there that was not there.

It was your "You're JUST catching on to that?" post to oldiesman that got me to read his again 2 more times to be sure what it actually said.  

[Charity]

11 hours ago, oldiesman said:

The Crucifixion

Blood sacrifices can be traced as far back as the Babylonians, Canaanites, and ancient nomadic rituals.  The writers of the OT simply assigned it to their god.  

It's very barbaric.  A real, all-loving and all-powerful god, however, would have come up with something more humane when relating with the mankind he created.   

[Charity]

13 hours ago, Charity said:

So just to be clear, I have believed in God from a child growing up in the RC church right up to the earlier part of this year.  I began this thread because of the doubts I was having about God and the bible.  I now am an atheist but still interested in discussing the biblical teachings about God and Jesus because of the influence they had on my life in the past and how they influence the beliefs and actions of people today.

 

 

7 hours ago, Charity said:

Blood sacrifices can be traced as far back as the Babylonians, Canaanites, and ancient nomadic rituals.  The writers of the OT simply assigned it to their god.  

It's very barbaric.  A real, all-loving and all-powerful god, however, would have come up with something more humane when relating with the mankind he created.   

I often bring up the above two false attributes of God, but rarely do I mention the all-righteous-and-just trait of god.  This concept was one of the main reasons I began to doubt in the existence of yahweh - specifically the examples of his wrath being rained down regularly on people in the OT and which will again show up in the end times via his son. 

I’m thinking of starting a new topic in the Doctrinal: Exploring the Bible or the Atheist sub-forum to discuss, what to me is, this disturbing idea that there must be a penalty for sin because God is righteous and just.  Many Christians find comfort in believing that evil people will get their due one day, but this actually happening is something that must be taken on faith.

I read with interest this short thread (especially the posts by "think fish" and "mj412") - Justice By Abigail, August 9, 2005 in Doctrinal: Exploring the Bible

 

Edited yesterday at 06:41 AM by Charity

[waysider]

6 hours ago, Charity said:

  Many Christians find comfort in believing that evil people will get their due one day

That's karma. You don't need to be of any particular faith to believe in it. Personally, I'm more of a believer in the law of statistics. If you have a habit of blowing through stop signs and red lights, you increase your odds of getting t-boned someday.

[oldiesman]

13 hours ago, Charity said:

Blood sacrifices can be traced as far back as the Babylonians, Canaanites, and ancient nomadic rituals.  The writers of the OT simply assigned it to their god.  

It's very barbaric.  A real, all-loving and all-powerful god, however, would have come up with something more humane when relating with the mankind he created.   

As we all know Jesus' act of giving his life is regarded by Christians as the ultimate in love and sacrifice for man's sins.   Don't know why it had to be this way, but since it's the ultimate in love and sacrifice there was no other ultimate way to prove God's love to mankind.    But, you appear to be canceling Jesus' sacrifice by saying it was simply copied by earlier cultures like it all is a hoax?     I've heard it before; only wanted to know if you believe this too.   Thx.

[Charity]

53 minutes ago, oldiesman said:

As we all know Jesus' act of giving his life is regarded by Christians as the ultimate in love and sacrifice for man's sins.   Don't know why it had to be this way, but since it's the ultimate in love and sacrifice there was no other ultimate way to prove God's love to mankind.    But, you appear to be canceling Jesus' sacrifice by saying it was simply copied by earlier cultures like it all is a hoax?     I've heard it before; only wanted to know if you believe this too.   Thx.

vpw taught that Jesus was not God.  Do you still believe this or have you returned to the belief in the trinity? 

[Charity]

1 hour ago, waysider said:

That's karma. You don't need to be of any particular faith to believe in it. Personally, I'm more of a believer in the law of statistics. If you have a habit of blowing through stop signs and red lights, you increase your odds of getting t-boned someday.

I don't think it's karma though when an uncaught serial killer sincerely obeys Rom 10:9-10 at the end of his life, gets saved and then has the promise of eternal life while his unsaved victims will either spend eternity in hell or die a second death in the lake of fire. 

mj412 wrote in the "Justice" thread linked above, "I mean if you think the scriptures prove all evil men will die I do not read , I read all men who deny Jesus as LORD. will burn ." 

Since I believe the bible is man's word and not God's, I'm interested in why Paul would come up with a concept like Rom 10:9-10 (which was written before any of the gospels) and attribute it to the god yahweh.  What benefit was there to him in doing so?

 

[waysider]

21 minutes ago, Charity said:

What benefit was there to him in doing so?

The possibility exists that we may never know why much of any of it was written. Geopolitical struggles? Ethnic rivalries? The list goes on.

[Charity]

1 hour ago, waysider said:

The possibility exists that we may never know why much of any of it was written. Geopolitical struggles? Ethnic rivalries? The list goes on.

You're probably right.  Best I can do is search the internet for what others have written about the historicity of Paul like Richard Carrier for example.